Farage denies Guardian antisemitism claims saying ‘there’s no primary evidence’
During PMQs Keir Starmer calls on Reform UK leader to explain allegations about his schooldays
Nigel Farage has denied claims of antisemitic and racist behaviour during his days at a top public school and could take legal action over the allegations, his spokesman has said.
A spokesman for the Reform UK leader said he was not going to sue over the claims published by the Guardian newspaper “at this stage” but asked if that was an option being kept open, he said: “Potentially, yes.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called on Farage to explain himself over the claims about his behaviour while at Dulwich College as a teenager.
The Guardian’s report was based on allegations from more than a dozen school contemporaries of Farage, 61, who recount incidents of deeply offensive behaviour throughout his teenage years.
Farage’s spokesman said on Wednesday: “These allegations date back 45 years, and I think that at any point in time – when Nigel was leader of Ukip, when he stood in the 2010 general election, the 2015 general election, during Brexit, maybe in the 2019 general election – you’d have to ask yourself, why this hasn’t come up before.”
He added: “Nigel is very clear, there’s no primary evidence.”
Farage was “probably mischievous” at school but denies the allegations made in the Guardian, the spokesman said.
Among those making allegations in the Guardian was the Bafta and Emmy-award winning director Peter Ettedgui, 61, who claimed to have been verbally abused by Farage repeatedly as a 13 and 14-year-old.
“He would sidle up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’, or: ‘Gas them,’ sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers,” Ettedgui claimed of his experience of sharing a class with Farage.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Starmer responded to a question from Reform’s Lee Anderson, who was next to Farage in the Commons, by saying: “Last week his leader said he didn’t have time to condemn the racist comments of his fellow MP (Sarah Pochin).
“He also said he didn’t have time to condemn his party calling children in care ‘evil’.
“I wonder if he could ask his leader next door to him whether he’s got time for his explanation for the stories in today’s papers?”
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